Setsunai [Challenge] - End

When Tammy got to their room, the children were already seated and singing. She found Keisha at the back and sat beside her, but they did not sing.

They colored and practiced their writing at the table. Keisha had a blank page in front of her. She drew two stick figures in black crayon. She drew a third in red. There was no sun in the sky, making for an incomplete picture.

“Do you want to make a rainbow?” Tammy asked, but Keisha did not respond.

“I’m making a killer whale,” Georgie said. He did not look up from his drawing. “It’s got a really cool sword!”

Today they did not go to the gym. Instead, they went to the library. But Keisha did not build a pillow fort. She sat alone on the floor and flipped quickly through a book, not really paying any attention to the words or the pictures. Tammy sat beside her, but still, they did not talk to one another.

It was lunch time. Keisha did not eat her food. She sat at the table and listened to the other children talk and laugh, but she did not partake in the conversation. When it was time to go outside, Jaysha and Meghan approached her.

“Do you want to go on the swings with us?”

Keisha nodded and followed them outside. Tammy followed a few paces behind them.

“I still have my bubbles,” Tammy suggested to Keisha. When Keisha did not respond, she continued. “Can I swing with you, too?”

“There’s only three swings,” Keisha said.

Tammy frowned. “We can take turns.”

“I don’t want to play with you.”

Tammy could feel her eyes well with tears. “Why?”

“Because we’re not friends!”

Tammy stared at her. Not friends? How could they not be friends? They were always friends. They did everything together. Keisha told her everything.

“Yes we are,” Tammy sobbed. “We’re best friends! Remember?”

“No we’re not,” Keisha insisted. “I don’t need you anymore!” She turned her back on Tammy and ran to join her friends on the swings.

Tammy stayed where she was, watching as Keisha left her alone, and she cried.

Keisha continued to ignore Tammy for the rest of the day until it was time for them to go home. Tammy stood beside Keisha, hesitant, as they waited for their carriage.

“My mom is picking me up today,” Tammy said in an attempt to talk with Keisha. “Do you want to sleep over?”

Keisha did not respond, and Tammy frowned.

“Can we please be friends again?” Tammy begged her. She started to cry again. “Why can’t we be friends?”

The carriage pulled up and Keisha ran to join the other children in line. Tammy watched wordlessly as Keisha got inside, then sat in a seat, looking out the window. Their gazes met and the carriage pulled away.

Tammy stood alone. She watched as the other children got into other carriages, some in groups, others alone. They talked and laughed with their friends and hugged their mothers and fathers who picked them up. One by one, the children disappeared. Tammy watched as the adults, too, disappeared, slowly making their way to their cars in the parking lot. The lot emptied. The sun began to set behind the trees, bathing the world in a golden glow and casting long shadows across the school grounds. And Tammy was still alone.

The sun disappeared, taking with it the shadows. The world darkened. A single street light illuminated the parking lot, and the world fell still.